I have to agree Olga, I too noticed that Queen Beatrix stayed in the background, just as if she is already paving the way for a future without her in the lime light. That there are a lot of photos of the little girls could have been expected, but there are also many with both crownprincely couples and the children but without her, though she must have been right there.
To the age-difference isn't it just over a year?
BTW, I doubt, that the children can communicate in english. Even if they are raised bilingual (and in Amalias case that would probably be dutch and spanish) little Amalia would hardly be fluent enough with her not even three years, in any language!
However, that is the beauty with children, they communicate on different levels and understand each other just perfectly.

I'm so glad to the Crown Princess Masako smile! What a diference a royal family makes from one another. Even with the language barrier for the Crown Prince and their daugther, the Queen seems to be receiving them with such joy, as if they were relatives coming back home. This vacation in the Netherlands is going to get then re-energized. Anyone knows if there is a program of activities planned in between their vacation time?

I bet part of the reason Masako looks so happy is that she is so glad to GET AWAY from the palace in Tokyo. The atmosphere there must have been awful -- the pressure to have a male heir would have been made a lot worse by what I gather is a very closed-in way of life there, very shut off from the outside world. A beautiful castle to stay in, lovely countryside, pleasant hosts, her parents nearby AND NO IMPERIAL HOUSEHOLD AGENCY -- hey, what's not to like?

On a related topic -- does anyone know why the IHA was so reluctant to let Masako travel abroad? The woman was a trained and experienced diplomat before she married. What on earth did the IHA think she would do overseas, throw furniture???

(In response on a poster who thought The Queen should open her palaces for the public).

There are so many buildings owned by the Dutch State which are not accessible for the public.

The public has no entrance to the grand salons in the Cabinet of the Premier:

The public has no entrance to the Catshuis, the residence of the Premier and his family:

The public has no entrance to the awesome salons the the official residence of the Mayor of Amsterdam:

Etc. etc.

The public has acces to Palace Het Loo.
The public has access to the Royal Palace Amsterdam.
The public will get access to Soestdijk Palace.
The public has access to the Royal Stables in Apeldoorn.
The Public has access to the Royal Stables in The Hague.
The public has acces to the Royal Archives in The Hague.

For the two palaces in The Hague which serve as private residence (Huis ten Bosch) and as offices for the royal household (Noordeinde) you can make extensive virtual tours with lots of explanation, zooming-in functions et al on the website of the Royal House.

Drakensteyn, Eikenhorst and Huis 't Loo are privately owned.

Castle Het Loo is no public building but is rented to the Queen to serve as her private retreat.

And I'll add the fear that a revitalized Masako will go back home full of energy to defend her daugther's claim to the throne. The Imperial Household (read three royals and the rest politicians) have spent so many years taking away they joy of life from Masako just because she was not able to produce a baby boy is about time she fights back.

Now, with the influence of Queen Beatrix and the very liberated Princess Maxima on her corner she could pick up courage and yes, throw some furniture...on the head of the Prime Minister himself since he leads that Imperial Household Agency.
And remember, Princess Maxima is a Latina Princess, that spanish blood of ours carries fire. If she can give some of that latin fire to Princess Masako she could go back home with more energy than Godzilla attacking Tokyo.

I see, thanks Oppie. And please, you are going to get a headache that way

Now let's go back on track like one happy family: Question for those with access to the local TV news in Netherlands, are there any mentions on TV or have any TV stations sent reporters to do some royal sightings?

Is it me, or does Her Majesty look so immense happy?
Indeed Princess Catharina-Amalia steals the show, the goodnatured character of her father and the excuberance of her mother are clearly visible.

Well, Aiko is just shy because she is visiting and she does not speak the language. The other one is younger and less mature. I think the three little girls steal the show. I love Amalia's legs--like her grandma!!!

I see, thanks Oppie. And please, you are going to get a headache that way

Now let's go back on track like one happy family: Question for those with access to the local TV news in Netherlands, are there any mentions on TV or have any TV stations sent reporters to do some royal sightings?

There were 30 dutch reporters there, so it will receive quite some attention (but the papers only come tomorrow). Today (and yesterday) it was broadcasted on all television channels that have news services and there was even a long item about the visit, Masako, Japan and the IHA on one of the major political programmes.
Before the visit started it received more attention then most (or any recent) crownprincely visits due to the fact that the visit was published and a photoshoot was announced.

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BTW there were no details given about the exchange of any gifts, as the court never shares such things with the press and considers it private information. However it was said in one programme that the dutch and japanese royals spent the entire morning & luch together.

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I wonder if they will see more of the Dutch royals. I would expect them to visit (or get visited) by Princess Margriet and Prof Pieter van Vollenhoven, as they live on the same estate. And they will probably pay a goodbye visit to HM The Queen and the Prince of Orange.

Thanks for the pictures, they are great. It is wonderful to see these two families together. Im glad they are making this trip, specially after all the attention Kiko's pregnancy is having. It is also amazing how calm and happy Masako seems to be, she doesnt seem like someone going through depression and stress disorders.

I totally agree- I'm so happy for both families. Is this the first time that Masako is meeting Willem-Alexander and Maxima?

I really enjoyed these pictures today. Aiko looked a bit shy at first, but I had the feeling she got used to the attention near the end. The photos of the three girls on the coach are very cute! I also liked the fact that it was Crown Princess Maxima that stood behind them.

I do hope that the press will let the Japanese Crown Princely family alone now and let them have their peace. After all, that's why they were invited to the Netherlands by Queen Beatrix, to relax, do some sightseeing and meeting Masako's parents without the IHA controling every single minute of their time.

The visit of the Crown Princely couple was an item in every broadcast of the Belgian national television (ÚÚn) but I don't know about the other channels.
I wonder how the IHA feels about that. The visit was announced as being private, but the whole visit has had a lot of media attention, not only in the Dutch or Belgian press, but also in the Japanese press.

Im glad its getting a lot of attention and I think the Crown Princely couple know what their doing with the attention. I think it says something when Masako looks so happy in the Netherlands with freedom and why she is miserable in Japan.

One of the things I have secretly been wondering is if Maxima would host a most private luncheon involving some of the other Crown Princesses so that Masako would get up to speed with them in a relaxed, very private way. Maxima seems to me the kind of generous hearted person that might have made this suggestion to Masako to see if she would want to do it. It seems the perfect time to do it since Masako has come such a long way. Many of the CP couples have visited her at her palace (especially during the World Expo last year) and so would have some, however minimal, relationship with her. At the very least, I have wondered about Mathilde and Elisabeth popping up from Belgium. Elisabeth and Aiko are only three months apart and I know Philippe and Mathilde have met the Japanese Royals on at least a couple of occasions. I am going to have my antennae up for the whereabouts of the other CP's during the next couple of weeks. If any of you catch wind of something -- please post it!!

Please, remember the new photo guidelinesthat has been put, regarding photo posting and try to be selective. Do not post any single photo you find. Instead, post just a few to illustrate and provide the link to the agency's gallery where the rest of the photos can be found.

The links for picture from Getty & PPE can be found here, so there's no need to post pictures from there as they're direct links.

Also, please do not turn in this thread on debate of the Japanese Succession Law, or about Masako/Aiko's future, or IHA/IHC. There's a thread specifically for that here, and all posts regarding the issue will be moved there.